With an eye on the 2015 World Cup, the Indian selection panel led by Sandeep Patil omitted the under-performing seniors - Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir from the 15 man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, slated to kick off in England and Wales in June. Gambhir' Ranji trophy team-mate, Virender Sehwag, who is now just a pale shadow of his former self continues to remain out of favor across all formats. Harbhajan Singh too has done little to force his way back in. Is this the end of the road for the seniors?

The winds have changed since that fairy-tale World Cup triumph on April 2nd 2013 in Mumbai. With Yuvi and Gauti getting the boot, only Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, his deputy Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina are still in the mix.

The Champions League Twenty20 will return to India for the third time in five years in 2013 after the dates and format for this year's tournament were confirmed by the CLT20 Governing Council.

The world's premier domestic T20 competition will be played from 17 September to 6 October. The tournament will follow a similar format to the two previous editions with a Group Stage preceded by a Qualifier. A total of 29 matches will be played in the tournament by the best domestic T20 teams from around the world.

Former Ryder Cup star Oliver Wilson will aim to replicate his European form on Asian soil when he tees off at the US$300,000 Panasonic Open India at Delhi Golf Club from April 4-7.

The Englishman has finished second nine times on the European Tour and reached the pinnacle when he represented Europe at the 2008 Ryder Cup, coming from four down to defeat Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson 2 and 1 in the second day foursomes alongside partner Henrik Stenson.

The battle for second place on the ICC Test Championship Table at the 1 April cut-off date resulted in a photo-finish between England and India on Tuesday. In the end, the thrilling draw at Auckland in the third and final Test at Auckland against New Zealand handed England the number-two rank on the 1 April cut-off date.

England needed to win or draw the Auckland Test to secure the second position, India not only needed to win the Delhi Test but also had to hope for a New Zealand victory in the Auckland Test. If New Zealand had won the series 1-0, then India could have finished in second position at the 1 April cut-off date.

South Africa’s 3-2 series win means England has finished second to world champion India on the Reliance ICC ODI Championship Table at the 1 April cut-off date.

South Africa, which started the series on 112 ratings points, needed to beat Pakistan 4-1 to move into second place. But the defeat in Durban ended its chances of collecting another cheque of US$75,000 alongside a cheque of US$450,000 that it has already won for finishing as the No.1 ranked Test side. This means India will receive the shield and will collect a cheque of US$175,000, while England will receive US$75,000 for finishing second.

India fast bowler Ishant Sharma has been fined 15 per cent of his match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the third day’s play in the fourth and final Test against Australia in Delhi on Sunday. Sharma admitted to the charge and accepted the sanction imposed by ICC Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle without the need to convene a disciplinary hearing.

Through his admission, Sharma was found to have breached Level 1 Article 2.1.6 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel (the “Code”), which relates to pointing or gesturing towards the pavilion by a bowler or a fielder upon the dismissal of a batsman during an International Match.

India completed a clean sweep of the visiting Australians with a hard earned 6 wicket win in the final test in Delhi with 16 wickets falling on a thrilling third day. Australia wrapped up the Indian first innings early on Day 3 with the hosts taking only a 10 run lead. The Indian spinners responded by bowling out the Aussies for just 164 in their second innings with Peter Siddle once again giving the visitors' scorecard an air of respectability with his second half-century of the match. India though wrapped up the win in style late in the day with Cheteshwar Pujara guiding his side to victory with an excellent unbeaten 82 from just 92 balls.

There was an element of predictability about proceedings on Sunday morning as Nathan Lyon wasted little time running through the Indian tail, getting rid of both Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha for ducks to bring a swift end to India's first innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was left high and dry on 14 as India's innings ended for 272. Lyon was rewarded by notching up his career best figures of 7-94 and there was every indication that this test match may not go into a fourth day even.